Failed Duty
by Kandascending
Summary: Just a short piece between Shun and Seiya after the events on the tanker. Rated for Angst and a bit of foul language


Failed Duty

AN: This is just a short piece I wrote at school one day, bare in mind this is my first Saint Seiya fic, it's unbetaed and the I haven't seen the actual Saint Seiya episode described herein. Only the Knights of the Zodiac edited version. However I *do* have the first three Saint Seiya volumes on DVD. So hopefully I was somewhat IC with the characters. Read and Review! I hope you enjoy. The story is set just before the battle with Gist.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic, nor do I own the series…if I did I'd be very happy, but I'll just settle for getting all the DVDs. I'm making no money off of this, so if you wish to sue you'll get a cardboard box with a picture of $100 bill on it.

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Shun sat on his bed, back resting against the wall, legs spread in front of him. It had been nearly 12 hours since those sea-creature bastards had escaped with the gold helmet and he had been the only one not to get any sleep. Placing a hand on the bandages that wrapped his upper torso, wincing in pain as his injured ribs rubbed together. How could someone possibly get any sleep after what had happened?

He had been up, at least, 36 hours straight, and most of that time had been spent fighting some foe or another, something that would've had any normal person to a drop dead state of exhaustion. Especially when they had another battle coming with in the next twelve hours. But then, they weren't normal were they? No, they were saints of Athena. Protectors of her life and will. Yet they were unable to fulfill their duty. The gold helmet had been stolen by a bunch of pirates. Phantom pirates at that. Ghosts!

Not ghosts, he amended touching the bandages again. Ghosts couldn't touch, or be touched. They were intangible, ghostly reflections of the past. Nothing more. These, poltergeists, couldn't be touched sure, but they could hit back. They could hit back really hard. One of them had fractured several of his ribs, bruising a few others. Yet, he couldn't strike back. The phantoms just faded away when he "struck" them.

This was his punishment, these busted ribs, for failing his duty. To his goddess, and to his brother. He failed his brother, failed Ikki. The sea-creatures had taken the helmet, he had let it fall into enemy hands. He had lost the helmet Ikki had sacrificed himself to give them.

Shun clenched his fists as tears welled up in his eyes. He had failed his brother. He had failed Ikki, all because he couldn't fight a bunch of ghosts. They had beaten him, busted his ribs, and made him fail his final duty to his brother.

His chest heaved as a sob racked his body, igniting a wave of fiery pain in his chest. He wrapped his arms around himself tightly, tears of sorrow and pain intermingled and slid down his cheeks in rivers of saltwater. The pain eventually subsided and he slowly relaxed, falling over to lay on his back.

His eyes were drawn out the open porthole and the sound of the ocean waves breaking against the ship drifted to his ears. The sound was one that had soothed him since he was dumped on Andromeda Island, alone and afraid. The ocean had always reminded him of Ikki. Strong, brave, and given to bouts of violence. However, the sound did little to soothe his troubled mind this time. His thoughts were a jumbled mass of pain and self-doubt.

Slowly, without him noticing at first, the sound of the churning ocean was filtered out by the sound of a jet. Shun frowned and shook his head, he saw a green jet approaching the ship, bearing the Graude Foundation logo.

Shun glanced away quickly, it was probably Saori and Tatsumi coming to chastise them, again. More punishment. Fun. He slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He paused for a second, took a deep breath in preparation, and pushed himself to his feet, wincing. The jet landed on the deck above.

He spared a look towards the door, Seiya or Hyoga would be coming to get him soon. He walked to the porthole and closed it, muting the sounds outside. Then leaned his forehead against the cool glass, with a sigh. Any minute now he would be summoned to listen to Tatsumi berate and belittle them for their incompetence for two hours. He never understood why Tatsumi didn't just get the other Bronze Saints to do their job if they were so inept for the job. Probably just enjoyed making them feel like dirt.

A few minutes passed but no knock came. He frowned slightly, they were going to let him rest? Tatsumi would never allow that. He glanced at the door and bit his lip, listening for the sounds of approaching feet. There were none, not even the crew could be heard moving around. He shook his head and turned back to the window. A ring fell past it. Saori's ring. It was quickly followed by her necklace and bracelets.

Shun glanced up towards the deck wondering why she would throw her precious jewelry in the Caribbean waters. Possibly a fit of anger because they were all a useless bunch of teenagers who couldn't even manage to keep a gold helmet between them.

She was probably extremely disappointing in them. He closed his eyes as a few more tears escaped. He imagined Ikki was too, after he died to get the helmet to Seiya. Another sob racked his fragile body, and dropped him to his knees clutching his abdomen. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, sobbing until his lungs burned for air and his ribs felt as if they were on fire. The pain was excruciating and the world dimmed around him. His face was streaked and wet, tears coming stronger now. Unconsciously he started a moan low in his throat that rose to a keening wail of agony. He didn't notice the door to his room open.

"Shun?" Seiya rushed to his side the moment he spotted him. "Shun!"

He moved behind him, pulling the green haired saint's torso into his lap and cradling him. This eased the strain off his battered ribs and the physical comfort was obviously needed. Slowly the pain receded but Seiya held him until Shun's sobs had quieted.

"Are you alright Shun?" He asked once his breathing had slowed.

The teen nodded weakly, his face flushed. "Y-Yes, thank you S-seiya."

"No problem, that's what friends are for, right?" Seiya replied smiling. "What happened?"

"I-I just s-started thinking about Ikki." Shun answered staring out the window again. "I failed him. I--He died to make sure *we* got the gold helmet and we lost it to a bunch of *ghosts*!"

He sobbed again clutching his chest. The pain was unbearable. Failing Athena. Failing Saori and Tatsumi. Failing Ikki. Getting injured by something that wasn't even real just added insult to hid already wounded heart.

"Shun, it's not your fault." Seiya said softly, his voice held an almost imperceptible undercurrent of self-doubt.

Shun, however, missed this and shook his head vehemently. "You weren't the one who got hurt by it Seiya. Ikki's mad at me, he left. He stopped protecting me."

He missed the darker boy's furrowed brow and frown because of the way they were situated, but he could hear the concern in his voice. "Shun…"

"I broke my last promise to him Seiya!" His blue-green eyes became watery again and his voice cracked.

"Is that what you think Shun?" Seiya asked pulling him gently into a better position to see his face. "That he abandoned you because you lost a stupid helmet?"

Shun sobbed pulling his knees to him while leaning most of his weight against Seiya. He kept his eyes away from Seiya's and fixed them on the ground.

"Ikki loved-er-loves you Shun," Seiya captured Shun's chin with his fingers and forced his eyes away from the ground. Once he was sure he had his attention he continued. "He wouldn't abandon you just because you lost some dumb helmet."

Shun started to protest but the brown haired Pegasus was forceful on his point. "He loves you! You're brothers. The bonds you share are too strong to be broken by something like that."

Shun nodded dumbly, tears still streaking his face. A fresh round of sobs was building in his throat. Seiya was right, Ikki would never abandon him. He had come back from Hell once, he could do it again. And he would never stop protecting him.

He laughed suddenly, the tension from the building sobs transferring itself to this act. He knew Seiya had to have decided he had gone crazy, but he couldn't help it. Once he managed to stop himself, he smiled gratefully at Seiya giving him a weird look.

"Thank you, Seiya." He whispered weakly.

"You're welcome Shun." Seiya answered as the blue-green eyes slid closed and Shun fell asleep. Seiya realized then that he was trapped underneath his lighter companion. He couldn't leave without risking waking his injured friend up.

With a smile and a sigh Seiya settled back against the cool metal wall. Saori and Tatsumi were sleeping in their rooms so it would be awhile before they would be needed. He could afford to rest until then.

"Don't worry Ikki," Seiya whispered to the sea, just before sleep claimed him as well. "He's in good hands now."

~*END*~

AN: Well….did you enjoy it? Hate it? Think I really need to lay of the Old Style Draft? Or maybe it was the rum….Either way it doesn't matter! Just tell me whatcha think 'kay? You've read…now review!


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